The present invention relates to novel resinous compositions which are soluble in odorless, halogen-free volatile solvents, such as odorless mineral spirits, to provide solutions which can be sprayed, painted, spread or otherwise coated onto a variety of materials such as textiles, leather, wood or other surfaces and air-dried at room temperatures to form oil-and water-repellent coatings.
It is known to coat a variety of materials with resinous compositions which dry at room temperatures to impart oil-and water-repellent properties. Oleophobic polymeric fluorinated compositions are known to be particularly effective for this purpose. Such compositions contain highly fluorinated aliphatic groups in sufficient amounts to give a high percentage of fluorine in the composition, of the order of 30 to 50 percent fluorine in many cases. Such a high fluorine content tends to make the polymeric compositions substantially insoluble in most organic solvents so that coating from solution in most readily available inexpensive nonhalogenated solvents, and most particularly from odorless mineral spirits, is not possible. Coating from emulsions or latices in water is required. This increases the drying time and introduces water which can be harmful to the material or surface being treated.
Reference is made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,950,298 and 4,564,561 for their disclosure of fluorinated acrylic and methacrylic acid esters, polymeric compositions and their use for treating materials to impart oil-and water-repellent properties. The former patent discloses terpolymer solutions in methyl isobutyl ketone.
Aside from the insolubility of useful amounts of known fluorinated polymeric compositions in most inexpensive non-halogenated volatile organic solvents in useful amounts, and most particularly in odorless mineral spirits, i.e., from about 1% to 2% or more, such known compositions generally produce unsatisfactory repellency results on a wide variety of materials.
Known fluorocarbon polymer compositions generally provide an oil repellency of less than 4 on most textiles, leather and wood, and an unsatisfactory aqueous stain repellency particularly in the case of certain textile fabrics and leather in general.